| autoinfection | 1. Reinfection by microbes or parasitic organisms on or within the body that have already passed through an infective cycle, such as a succession of boils, or a new infective cycle with production of a new generation of larvae and adults, as by the nematode Strongyloides stercoralis or the cestode Hymenolepsis nana. 2. Self-infection by direct contagion as with parasite eggs passed in the infectious state transmitted by fingernails (anal-oral route), as with the pinworm, Enterobius vermicularis. Synonym: autoreinfection, self-infection. (05 Mar 2000) |
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